Year 9 And The Great Urban Race

19 maart 2014

On Tuesday this week, Year 9 took part in our third annual Humanities Great Urban Race around downtown Shanghai.

The main aim of the Great Urban Race is to get the students out into the “real” world so they can see some of the Humanities subjects in a real life context rather than just in the classroom. It is a fun day that the students always enjoy.

Students were set different challenges to attempt throughout the day across the various subjects that are included in Humanities: Geography, History, Business Studies and Computing Science. Below are some examples of the types of challenges set across the different subjects.

Geography

Better City, Better Life: Surveying residents and tourists about living in Shanghai and how it could be improved.Old vs New Shanghai: Photo comparison of housing, occupations, business, transport and food.

History

Shanghai Statues: Photo, explanation and details of an historical statue.Cultural Revolution: Locate and purchase an artefact from the cultural revolution with a detailed description of it.

Computing

Computer Culture: What computers are used in a specific business, how many, what for etc.An Apple a Day: Collecting detailed information from an Apple store about products, sales, customers etc.

Each group was supervised by a member of staff, but students were left to organise themselves and decide what, when and how they did things to complete the challenges. It was rewarding to see students displaying good leadership, organisation and cooperation skills. They also practised other skills such as using their Mandarin, surveying people and navigation skills with map reading and using the metro.